Just another Holiday
by Sage-Kandy
Summary: Naruto celebrates every holiday the same. Yet, something unexpected happens on this holiday. Rated for character death and content. Naruto centric. UPDATED...YAY! By the way, I've decided to make a prequil to this story...it'll be up sometime Christmas


Just another Birthday

Walking home from practice, Naruto glared at his surroundings. It was his birthday today, and he really hated it. He hated everyday, but holidays just seemed so much worse than others. Holidays were family things, and his family was mainly dead. Yes, mainly dead. He knew he had a younger sister, living a happy life with her dear adopted family. She was 10, with bright blue eyes, long golden hair and an attitude of a naïve idiot. He loved her dearly, but there was absolutely no point in loving someone who knew nothing of your existence. He sighed as he saw her laughing visage. She was with her friends and crush, standing by the ice-cream parlor they always went to after their academy lessons. He had often watched over her, protected her. Looking away, he walked straight to his apartment, locking the door and sulking in his room, listening to his iPOD. He never saw the wishful gaze his little sister gave him as he walked by.

_And you ask me what I want this year  
And I try to make this kind and clear  
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days  
'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings  
And desire and love and empty things  
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days_

Opening his window he leaned over the edge, looking at the city that was his home. He had never really liked living here, but he knew not where else to go. Sure, Gaara had offered him a home and position in Suna, but Naruto wasn't used to the strong winds and sand storms that would accompany such a move. So Naruto stayed in Konoha, bearing the hatred that was the city, and the responsibility that was Kyuubi.

_  
So take these words,  
And sing out loud  
'Cause everyone is forgiven now  
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again_

The sun was just setting over the wide horizon, giving way to his favorite part of the day; sunset. When light gave way to dark, where it didn't matter if he was the smiling idiot everyone thought him to be, where he could sit down, and relieve himself of the constant aching in his heart. Night was his element, and rain was his strength. During these times he felt at full control of everything, because these were the times when no one else would come out of their cozy homes, and he was allowed to feel alive. Smiling, he walked out of his apartment, not bothering to lock the door.

_  
And it's someplace simple where we could live  
And something only you can give  
And that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive  
And the one poor child that saved this world  
And there's 10 million more who probably could  
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them_

He walked to his favorite place in the city, outside of city walls. In a clearing, several miles from the city, lay a pond, a large boulder, a beautiful cherry blossom tree, and was completely surrounded by trees on all sides, giving it an air of isolation. He had first found this place when dumped here by a couple of ninja a year before. They had beaten him up pretty bad, but once he awoke he had immediately fallen in love with this clearing. This is where he went when he needed to be alone, or during stupid festivals and holidays. He was quite sure the Fire Festival had already started, families gathering around a grand bonfire, with stands littering the streets, and people overflowing from the city. A time where even the Shinobi get to relax, and the Hokage gets to run and play. Surely, Sakura would be dancing her heart out with Sasuke right now, Sasuke would be dragged from one girl to the next, not having a choice in the matter. He wasn't permitted to attend the Grand Festival, because he was the Kyuubi vessel, and they were celebrating Kyuubi's defeat.

_  
So take these words  
And sing out loud  
'Cause everyone is forgiven now  
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again_

Naruto sat in the cherry blossom tree, staring up at the stars that were slowly appearing.

"You'll catch a cold out here, without a jacket" a soft voice sang out to him. Taking off his headphones, Naruto looked down at the speaker, surprised to find his sister.

"You'll get hurt out here, without protection" Naruto stated calmly, not moving down from his branch.

"I'm not worried;" she shrugged, "so what's your name? I've seen you around town, but I never got a chance to talk to you."

"Not that I believe it to be any of your business…my name's Naruto" he stated, shifting his gaze away.

"My name's Kai" she said after he didn't ask for her name.

"I know…your sensei told me about you. He says you're an excellent student with high grades and are quite popular" Naruto said, looking up at the stars.

"You know Iruka-Sensei?" she asked.

"He was my sensei when I was still an Academy Student. He's pretty much the closest thing to a parent I have" Naruto stated.

"You seem a lot calmer than when you are in the city" she mumbled, looking up at him.

"Yeah, I tend to get hyper around so many people" he lied.

_  
I wish everyone was loved tonight,  
And somehow stop this endless fight  
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days_

He was content to be in such close proximity with his sister, a comfortable silence between them. It didn't last however, as a loud roar, and a crash from the woods alerted the young ninja that something was definitely not right. Jumping off his branch, he stepped in front of Kai, shielding her from view.

"Kai, go home, and don't look back. It's getting too dangerous for you to stay out here" Naruto whispered, glaring at the forest, nudging his sister towards the city.

"Okay, but what about you?" she whispered.

"I'll be right there, I'm just going to make sure whatever it is, it's not hungry for humans" he said, giving her a final push and watched as she took off in a dead run towards the city.

'_Good bye my dear sister_' he thought, before facing the two 6 tailed fox demons who crashed through the tree line.

_  
So take these words,  
And sing out loud  
'Cause everyone is forgiven now  
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again  
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again_

Kai ran; she ran until she reached the festival. Out of breath, she let out a blood curdling scream, gaining the attention of the citizens.

"Roaring… crashing… forest…Naruto…danger" she was able to spit out between pants, before collapsing into a heap.

"Kai!" parents and friends rushed to her side, trying to wake her up.

Naruto stood, staring at the two large 6 tailed kitsune. He knew he didn't have the skill to take them on, but he had to hold them off. So, using the shadow clone technique, he charged, hoping to at least make a little dent in their existence. The battle seemed to drag on forever. Naruto tried his hardest to make them back away from the city; however they were just too powerful.

'If an entire ninja village couldn't take _one _of these things, what makes me think I can take _two!_' Naruto looked up at his usurpers. He was as good as dead, if Kai didn't return with help soon.

He battled fiercely, using every jutsu he knew, every attack pattern he could think of. Knew jutsu were born, and Naruto became unbelievably powerful. His knowledge about foxes, summonings, and animals in general grew immensely.

'Dear kami, if I make it out of this alive I swear on all my scars that I will never be annoying or emo again! I'll tell all my friends how much I value their friendship, and I'll tell Kai she's my sister!'

The battle continued, and Naruto grew desperate. He even created his own version of the Byakugan. Still, he did little to no damage to the two demons, even with the Kyuubi's power. Finally deciding on a final assault, Naruto called all of the chakra he had left within him to create the Ultimate Resangen.

Kai had come through a few hours later in the hospital, family, friends, and medic ninja surrounding her. She looked frantically, but she didn't see Naruto anywhere.

"Where's Naruto?! He said he'd be right behind me!" Kai screeched, anxious for the boys life.

"Naruto? How do you know Naruto? He isn't here, probably in his apartment" her mother soothed.

"No, he was outside the gates, in a clearing. I followed him, and we heard a roar, and trees were crashing. He told me to run back here, that he'd be right behind me! Where is he?!" Kai was hyperventilating now, fear rolling off in waves.

"He isn't here. He probably made it back and is sleeping. I'll call his sensei and ask if he could go check on him, okay?" her mother whispered.

"Hai, thank you mom" Kai whispered as she lay back down.

"So, what did he say?" Kai's father asked, whispering quietly to his wife.

"He said that he wasn't there, and from Chakra residue, he hasn't been there for hours, I'm worried, Assai, what if Kai finds out?" Kai's mom whispered.

"She won't, we'll make sure of it" and with that, they returned back to the room.

"Well? How is he?" Kai asked, looking at her parents.

"He's fine, his sensei said that he'd been home for hours now!" her mother said, smiling.

"Okay, if you say so" Kai mumbled, lying back down, trying to get some rest.

_Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead  
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken  
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes  
This is your life and today is all you've got now  
Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have  
Don't close your eyes  
Don't close your eyes_

As the dust died down, Naruto could make out two piles of dust of the two vanquished demons swirling around in the wind. Smiling, Naruto collapsed. He had finally proven himself, perhaps the city would never know, but he did, and he would die a true Shinobi, with the knowledge that he had protected his home with his life and a kunai in his hand.

'I guess I won't ever come out to the city. Oh well…Sasuke knows…'

"Today, I die a Shinobi" Naruto whispered, staring at the rising sun. Closing his eyes one last time, the voices of his team mates were met with deaf ears, as the light faded from his eyes, and his heart beat one last time.

_This is your life, are you who you want to be  
This is your life, are you who you want to be  
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be  
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose_

_Yesterday is a kid in the corner  
Yesterday is dead and over_

"Naruto! Naruto, where are you?!" Sakura's worried voice called out.

"Dope! Damn it, where the heck are you?!" Sasuke's equally worried voice shouted, his eyes scanning the surrounding area.

"I found him!" Neji shouted, his Byakugan activated to see better. Everyone (the Rookie 9 and Gai's team + sensei) ran in that direction, hoping Naruto wasn't dead yet. They gasped when they arrived at the battle field. Blood filled the whole clearing, two large piles of dust were floating away in the wind, and a short boy was lying face up in the middle of it. He seemed content, as though sleeping, overlooking the horrible gashes all over his body. In the middle of the clearing was a pond, its water reddened by the blood of whatever had attacked; a fallen cherry tree right beside it, and a split boulder on the other side. What had once been a paradise hiding spot, had become a horrible battle field, blood soaking the tree's on the other side of the clearing, those not bloodied were fallen, ripped off by the attackers. Kakashi, being Naruto's sensei, walked cautiously over to the fallen boy, wishing with all he had that Naruto had survived, and was only asleep. The closer he got, the more horrified he became. Naruto had gashes covering his body. Two crossed over his stomach, one long one going from his shoulder to his thigh, the other going from his side to his arm on the opposite side. His arms were just two large puddles of blood, barely recognizable. His legs were torn, his tendons completely ripped. He had a huge scratch on his head, still seemingly gushing out blood, and his neck was partially torn open. In his right hand he held a kunai, and on his face, a true smile plastered on.

_Yesterday is a kid in the corner,  
Yesterday is dead and over_

_This is your life, are you who you want to be  
This is your life, are you who you want to be  
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be  
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose_

"Oh god" Kakashi choked out, slowly lowering himself to kneel beside his fallen student. "Naruto? Naruto, wake up!" Kakashi lightly shook the body; tears streaming from his eye (both of them). When he didn't get a response, he slowly picked him up, trying not to agitate the boy's wounds anymore. He knew he was dead, but it hurt to let him go like this, bloodied and pained. He walked over to the assembled team, tears still streaming down his face.

"Today, he is a true Shinobi" Kakashi sobbed, allowing the others to see their fallen friend. They gasped; shocked at the horrible condition Naruto had been in when he died.

"Dope… why?" Sasuke whispered, reaching out his hand, as if to touch him, but halting it half ways, a sob slowly ripping from his throat, tears spilling forth from his eyes. He knew of the pain Naruto had suffered, if only to a small extent.

"Oh god, he…why? What did he ever do to deserve this?" Sakura mumbled, tears already streaming down her face.

The whole team was shocked, not wanting to believe that their Sunshine had truly given way to a never ending night.

_Dont close your eyes  
Dont close your eyes  
Dont close your eyes  
Dont close your eyes_

Two weeks Later

Two weeks later, Naruto was buried by his father's side, his gravestone a fox with nine tails.

_Here lies Naruto, a true Shinobi, a true friend._

Few people in the city came, paying their respects to the boy who had brought so much life into their lives. Most of them were ninja, but the loss of a true heart was felt through every village, through every soul. For the first time, everyone noticed how dreary their lives were without the hyper young man, and how much they would have suffered had it not been for him. And so, Naruto was finally seen as the hero he had always meant to be. His house had been searched for anything valuable that his friends might be able to split amongst themselves, and they found out some pretty interesting things about him.

They had found a box of paintings, painting utensils, art books, carvings and song books. They had found a guitar, a base, and a baby piano. They found a closet full of black clothes, the odd orange pants or jacket, and a few pictures of team seven, academy graduation, and a picture of his parents, his parents and him, his mom and him, and his mom, him and his little sister. Among his drawings they found recreations of those pictures, where everyone seemed so much happier. They even found a will, dividing everything evenly between everyone. Sakura had found a specific Team 7 picture, where Naruto and Sasuke had their arms around each other, one hand forming peace signs, Kakashi holding each with one hand, Sakura in between them, her tongue sticking out and both hands in peace signs.

Sasuke found two pictures. One of a fox, with nine fluffy tails, each tipped like a mountain capped with snow, and two deep eyes. The paws of the fox were capped like the tails, and the snout had a huge fox grin and two large fangs protruding out of it. The fur was a beautiful deep red…the color of blood, and its ears were flat on its head. The fox in the picture looked beautiful and majestic, nothing like the one in the text books. Around the paws were other, lesser foxes, jumping and looking up at the larger fox in awe. They were nothing more than a couple of inches each, and could easily pass as grass, but to the more trained eye…well, lets just say that it was fairly amazing. On the back of the fox, almost reaching off the pictures frame, were four young men and one young looking woman, as small as any one of the lesser foxes. These people, to those who noticed them, were known as the five great Hokage of Konoha. The other picture was a picture of Konoha, in all its glory. Buildings covered the entire paper, showing just how much he cared for the village. Taking one last look at it, Sasuke wiped his eyes.

"Good bye dope" he whispered, tears streaming down his face, unbidden and unnoticed.

_This is your life are you who you want to be  
This is your life are you who you want to be_

_This is your life, are you who you want to be  
This is your life, are you who you want to be  
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be  
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose_

_And you had everything to lose_

_**The End**_


End file.
